Wednesday, 19 June 2013

Details, details. Things to do. Things to get done. Don't bother me with details, just tell me when they're done*

So the planning begins. Or at least it would do if I knew where to start. Procrastination and masturbation they say....

First things first, the point of no return. Booking time off work and more importantly - flights. I booked a flight today, then I cancelled it. Not because I'm having second thoughts but because I'd booked it for July this year and not June 2014. Not the best start to be fair. When I tried to move it, they told me I couldn't book that far in advance so tomorrow I'm off to the holiday shop to see if they can do me a special deal. I have visions of 'computer says no' and some choice coughing but its worth a try. Otherwise it's a case of leaving it nearer to the time which I'd rather not do.

The flight out there is the easy bit. The flight back not so much. Sat here now in front of the laptop its very easy to say 'yeah, 20 days - piece of warm fluffy brownie' (cake free day today - can you tell?) but when I'm 3 days in and I can still see the warm glow of Banff illuminating the sky behind me I may not be feeling quite so cavalier about it all. What I might do is book a return flight and get my brother to change it if it looks like I'm going to be late, or even better, early. HA! However Ben being Ben (thats brother Ben or Ken to his mates) he'll forget and I'll be stuck in the land of the free. Hmmm, needs work does that bit.

Also - getting the bike there isn't a biggie. Get cardboard box from my mate Rob's shop (LifecycleUK in Bildeston - its mega, go there and spend money), bike in box, box to Canadia, unpack bike and throw away box. At the other end however it might be more difficult so maybe I need to befriend a local (in NM) bike shop and maybe ship an empty box out there. Or maybe I'll be so sick of riding it that I'll just set fire to it and walk off into the middling distance. It's what Steve McQueen would do...

Something slightly more productive happened in the form of me booking my holiday. I've booked 4 weeks, but have the option to extend it which is nice. It also means the holiday comes out of next years entitlement which leaves me plenty this year to have some long trips away to get some training in.

Tomorrow I'm going to put together a calendar of all the events I want to do prior to TD. Thanks to the helpful folks on SingleTrackWorld I have quite a list, but it goes along the lines of Bear Bones 200, Highland Trail race, Dusk 'til Dawn and I also want to do the South Downs way a couple of times. I've also got a ride from my mum's house in Suffolk to my Aunt's house in Lincolnshire. Not the most fascinating of rides but it's something I've wanted to do for years and never got round to it.

Oh yeah, and at some point I need to get out and ride my bike. Tomorrow is meant to be pretty grim but I'm going to ride from the office in Guildford, do the red route at Swinley then ride back to the office and pick my car up. Not much but its a start....

Don't forget audax rides for a change. Spoke to a mate yesterday who saw Ian McNab recently. He is 57 and averaging 126 miles per day in 29th place. Anyway, he did some audaxes with his loaded bike. Things like the Bryan Chapman from Chepstow would be useful.

I got a box from Gila Bike and Hike in Silver City NM after I finished for the journey home.

You could ride to El Paso which is another 140 miles, must be a bike shop there.